


a little fiction (my behavior is hereditary)

by jedormis (dottie_wan_kenobi)



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Charles not Chic!, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, F/M, FP Jones II tries, Family Secrets, Hurt Betty Cooper, Hurt Jughead Jones, Jughead and Veronica are siblings, Long Lost/Secret Relatives, Past Infidelity, Sort Of, Teenage Drama, Tropes, both past and present, not well but he does, yeah i did that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-25
Updated: 2018-07-25
Packaged: 2019-06-15 23:24:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15423939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dottie_wan_kenobi/pseuds/jedormis
Summary: For a long moment, FP just stares at Jughead. Then he laughs and shakes his head. “You know, you look a lot like me when I was your age. That look on your face included.”“What look?”“Like you can’t stand me,” FP says, seemingly not bothered at all by it. In fact, he seems amused. “Forsythe the first, oh boy, I put him through so much shit. I ever tell you he kicked me out when I was sixteen?”Jughead shakes his head. “Why?”FP doesn’t answer right away, taking a few moments to stare at the picture of Jellybean on the wall. “Got a girl pregnant,” he says eventually, before coming back to his senses. He laughs again through his nose. “You better not do that. I wouldn’t kick you out for it -- I’dneverkick you out -- but still. You better not.”The conversation ends there, never spoken about again, and two years later, Jughead leaves home. Not because he’s kicked out, but because he can’t handle the drinking anymore.So no,Jughead thinks bitterly as he sleeps in the fucking Drive-In,Dad didn’t kick me out but he did a wonderful job of pushing me out.





	a little fiction (my behavior is hereditary)

**Author's Note:**

> So this AU is sorta like canon except a lot not like it. Bughead got together at some point. Charles never met Chic and nothing happened between them at all. The Lodges still bought and tore down the Drive-In and Hiram is still in prison. Polly's already had the twins. Idk just go along with it please? <3
> 
> Title comes from Express Yourself by NWA because I think I'm funny

One day, when Jughead is a newly minted fourteen year old, still stuck in his dad’s trailer and wishing he wasn’t, a secret is revealed.

Jughead is just sitting and doing his homework when FP Jones comes home from the Whyte Wyrm, drunk as per usual. The door opens and FP stumbles in, not taking any notice of his son at first, too preoccupied with finding the bathroom. Within minutes, however, he’s back in the living room, sprawled on the couch.

There’s no better cue for Jughead to get his stuff together and hide in his room for the night than this. As quietly as he can, he organizes his papers and folders, gearing up for sneaking past his dad. He’s not quiet enough, though.

“Jug? You here?” FP calls, sitting up.

With a repressed sigh, Jughead stands up and moves into his dad’s line of sight. “Yeah, I’m here.” _What do you want?_ , he thinks, wishing he had the courage to say it outloud.

For a long moment, FP just stares at Jughead. Then he laughs and shakes his head. “You know, you look a lot like me when I was your age. That look on your face included.”

“What look?”

“Like you can’t stand me,” FP says, seemingly not bothered at all by it. In fact, he seems amused. “Forsythe the first, oh boy, I put him through so much shit. I ever tell you he kicked me out when I was sixteen?”

Jughead shakes his head. “Why?”

FP doesn’t answer right away, taking a few moments to stare at the picture of Jellybean on the wall. “Got a girl pregnant,” he says eventually, before coming back to his senses. He laughs again through his nose. “You better not do that. I wouldn’t kick you out for it -- I’d _never_ kick you out -- but still. You better not.”

The conversation ends there, never spoken about again, and two years later, Jughead leaves home. Not because he’s kicked out, but because he can’t handle the drinking anymore. _So no,_ Jughead thinks bitterly as he sleeps in the fucking Drive-In, _Dad didn’t kick me out but he did a wonderful job of pushing me out._

* * *

Jughead doesn’t think about the mysterious girl his dad got pregnant again until Betty tells him about having a brother.

“My mom told me something crazy last night,” she says, taking a sip of her milkshake before continuing. “Apparently she got pregnant in high school.”

“Wow. I can’t imagine her… doing that,” is all Jughead manages to say, trying to rethink his mental image of Alice Cooper. She hates him, and seems to think that not only are he and Betty having regular sex, they’re having it unprotected. As if Jughead would ever risk bringing a child into this world, as if Betty would ever be that irresponsible.

Betty nods, her fingers steepled on the table. He can see in her eyes she feels the same way as he does. “Yeah. And she kind of…. I mean, it’s crazy, but she sort of made it sound like the baby wasn’t Dad’s. She said he wouldn’t approve of finding the kid. Apparently he said he never wanted to think about it again, he just wanted to move on.”

Mind blank, Jughead asks, “What happened to the baby? Did she have it or?”

“She said she went to the Sisters of Quiet Mercy and had the baby there, five months after she first got there. It was a boy.”

 _How old is Alice Cooper?_ He wonders. _Did she and Dad go to school together? Did they know each other?_ His dad has never said anything about her, but that doesn’t mean much with him. “So you have a brother out there, somewhere? That’s pretty cool.”

As Betty continues to talk, Jughead drinks his coffee and very carefully doesn’t think about the mysterious girl anymore. Or Jellybean, for that matter. (Damn lost-sibling type angst.)

* * *

Charles Smith is obviously on some sort of drug, but he’s nice, and to Jughead, that’s all that really matters.

Jughead is introduced to him at Pop’s, a few days after Betty and Alice find him in Greendale. He’s blonde like the other Coopers, and some of his features scream Alice so much so that Jughead finds it hard to look at him (all connotations are either too positive or too negative; neutral feels unattainable). Other things about him though, especially his smile, remind Jughead of something else. Some _one_ else. The way his eyes are just a touch glassy, yeah, it’s familiar.

“I’m Charles,” he says, smiling that smile and reaching out to shake Jughead’s hand. Alice is sitting there, watching them with bright eyes, and Jughead can’t help but think about the fact that he has never seen Alice Cooper happy once except right here, right now. “Betty’s brother.”

“Jughead Jones, I’m her boyfriend,” Jughead says back, trying to appear friendly. He knows it’s not his strong suit. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“You too! Are you gonna sit with us or -- ?”

“Oh, I shouldn’t,” he says, even though Betty invited him. He meets her eyes over Charles’ shoulder and tries to convey to her that he feels like if he sits with them, he’ll fuck everything up. Jughead sticks his hands in his pockets, suddenly uncomfortable. “I wouldn’t want to intrude on you meeting your family.”

“Juggie, what are you talking about?” Betty cuts in. “You’re practically family. Just sit down,” she says, and pats the booth next to her.

With a sigh, Jughead says, “Just a sec,” and goes and orders something to eat. None of the others are, but he’s starving and it can’t wait. When he returns, he takes the offered seat, finding himself across from Charles and Alice. Any other day, Alice would have already told him off, or made a comment about how Jughead is most certainly _not_ practically family. Not today, though.

After he sits, no one talks. Jughead taps his toes up and down nervously, before asking, “So, uh, what’s been talked about already?”

Betty takes his hand as she says, “Well, we’ve gone over how we found Charles but not much else.”

“Yeah, heh, they just showed up at my door. It was shocking, but in a good way,” Charles says. It doesn’t sound like he’s lying or trying to preserve any feelings.

Soon enough, Jughead has his food (including a milkshake for Betty), and Alice is telling Charles about their family. Jughead tunes out whatever she says about Hal and herself, but when she gets to Polly and the twins, Jughead scoots closer to Betty. He knows all too well how much it hurts that Polly has decided to stay away, and he can’t imagine it’s easy to have to hear her mom, who always finds her lacking, talking about her lost sister with stars in her eyes meant only for Betty’s lost brother. They maneuver so she’s under his arm, tucked into his side. It makes eating a little more difficult but Jughead can give up some of his own comfort if it means Betty gets more. Alice doesn’t give him the evil eyes, while Charles just smiles at them.

Alice lets Betty explain who she is, as well as Jughead. In return, Charles explains to them that he was given Alice’s contact information when he aged out of Sisters of Quiet Mercy but never used any of it, too afraid of being rejected. He moved to Greendale when he turned 18, and has lived there in the seven years since. No girlfriend or boyfriend to speak of, but he does have a job as a mechanic, and takes shifts at the local supermarket when he’s needed. Wherever it is that he lives, he has a roommate named Maria.

After all that, they talk about other things. Jughead mostly doesn’t say anything, except when it’s about Polly and Betty as kids. Charles laughs when Betty tells him about their long-spanning friendship, apparently charmed by the story. Alice pulls the conversation away from them, and more Cooper family things are discussed, such as the history of mental illness. Apparently the look in Charles’ eye is because he accidentally took an extra adderall before they came to Pop’s, thinking he hadn’t taken it yet. Jughead isn’t sure if he believes it.

This all leads to Charles asking, “So, is Hal my dad?” Jughead can read the, _If he is, where is he? Why isn’t he here with us?_ in Charles’ tone.

Alice clears her throat, eyes darting this way and that, and says, “No, actually. I’m not sure who your father is, but it’s not him.”

* * *

Jughead is known for doing stupid shit, and he can admit that (so long as it’s acknowledged that Archie does stupid shit at a much higher rate). Case in point: going and finding FP and immediately asking, “Who’d you get pregnant?”

FP is sitting in the kitchen of the trailer, eating, when Jughead bursts in. At his question, FP coughs and chokes. “What the hell are you talking about?” He demands as soon as he can breathe. Jughead can see, plain as day, the fear in his dad’s eyes. No, not fear -- _trepidation_.

“You fucked someone who wasn’t Mom, and I know you didn’t wrap it up. You told me, like, two years ago. So. Who’d you get pregnant?”

“Why are you asking now?” FP asks, suspicion in his tone.

“I’m asking because I found out something very interesting today and I’m trying to see if you’re going to be honest about it,” Jughead answers, crossing his arms. _This is absolutely a test,_ he thinks as if he were speaking right to FP, watching his dad’s face.

After a long, _long_ moment, FP says, “I don’t -- I’m not sure, okay, but fine. Fine. Hermione Lodge. That what you wanted to hear?”

Jughead doesn’t react outwardly, no gasp or flinch or anything. He does ask, perhaps a bit strangled, “What?”

FP’s face falls, and he stands, stepping closer to Jughead. “What do you mean, what?”

“When -- ?”

“It was,” he goes shamefaced here, and Jughead’s stomach drops out, “right after you were born. Your mom told me to leave the two of you alone, let you sleep, you know? So I went to the Whyte Wyrm, and met Hermione there. Apparently she was visiting home while Hiram was -- somewhere. She never said. Anyway, I was drunk. We had sex. She went home the next day, and I went back to your mom. Then, next thing I know, Fred’s saying she’s expecting. I have no idea if it was by me or Hiram.”

Jughead, who never moved that far from the door in the first place, goes back to it. Facing away from FP, he says, “Alice Cooper had a kid in high school and he looks just like you, Dad.” Then, as quickly as he came, he leaves.

* * *

He tells Betty. Of course he does. It’s not as if there are any other options here. Well, okay, there are, but things always work out better when they put their minds together and figure it out.

As soon as he’s out of the trailer, he calls her, not waiting for her to greet him before saying, “Betty, I need to talk to you. It’s important.”

“What? What’s going on?”

“How soon can you be at Pop’s?” He asks instead of answering her, not thinking about anything except _STOP THINKING ABOUT IT!_

“Um, ten minutes?”

Thirteen minutes later, Jughead finds that Betty’s waiting for him in their regular booth. She stands when he comes in, but doesn’t try to go for a hug like usual. Her eyes are wide, and some part of him feels awful for scaring her.

“Come on,” he says, and heads for the back corner where no else is sitting. She follows, sitting with her back to the door so Jughead can face outward.

“What’s going on?” She asks again. Her arms cross on top of the table, and she leans forward, telling him in no uncertain terms that she won’t be brushed off again.

Jughead leans in, too, and says, “I don’t know where to start.”

“Start with if you’re in danger or not.”

“No! No, I’m not in danger, no one’s in danger. Except probably my dad if this gets out, which is why we’re sitting here.”

“So this is about your dad?”

“Yeah.” He scrubs at his face, groaning slightly. In an undertone, he says, “A few years ago, he told me that he got a girl pregnant in high school, and I just confronted him about it. Charles…. I think Charles looks a lot like my dad, is why I did it. And I guess I didn’t say I meant when he was in high school, because he told me about the time he and Hermione Lodge had sex! Which just so happens to be at the same time Veronica was conceived!”

Betty’s mouth drops open.

“Yeah! God, I told him I was talking about your mom and then I ran!” Jughead sighs heavily, before sitting up. “I need to eat.”

He goes and orders “your biggest burger, Pop, _please_.” When he comes and sits back down, Betty is staring at the table.

“Betts?” He can’t help but be concerned he’s finally broken her.

“So you think that your dad is Charles’ dad _and_ Veronica’s?” She makes it sound like he’s positive, which he’s not. But then again, Charles looks _a lot_ like FP, especially in the eyes. And Veronica…, he can see a resemblance. But it’s not as concrete as Charles is, at least in Jughead’s mind.

He shrugs. “I mean, it’s feeling pretty likely?”

“Did your dad say anything else?”

Their eyes meet, and helplessly, Jughead relaxes a little. There’s still panic and forced apathy and not-so forced acceptance that his dad is a huge mess, but just one look and it feels manageable. “He said he doesn’t know if Veronica is his or not. And that I was a newborn.”

Betty winces at that, reaching out to hold Jughead’s hand. He lets her, and finds himself rubbing his thumb back and forth against her skin, taking even more comfort in it.

“Nothing about Charles?”

“I didn’t exactly let him get a word in about that part of this,” Jughead says.

“Okay.” Betty says. “Okay. We’re gonna have to talk to my mom, your dad, and Veronica. And probably Mrs. Lodge, too.”

“Why, so she can get Mr. Lodge to kill us all? No thanks.”

“Juggie,” she says, a reprimand in her tone. “Her dad is still in prison. He can’t kill us from there.”

“He’s rich, he can do anything,” Jughead corrects. The majority of him doesn’t actually believe Hiram Lodge will kill anyone over this, but either way, he doesn’t want to risk it. Rich people can get away with anything, and Jughead wouldn’t be surprised if that includes murder.

“Maybe we should start with one of our parents, then,” Betty says, conceding. “Who’s more likely to answer questions?”

* * *

If you ask Jughead, neither option is a good one, but his dad is definitely the lesser of two evils. _Or at least I hope so_ , he thinks as he and Betty enter the trailer.

The familiar pang of embarrassment when she sees his home is gone, thankfully. Betty’s made it clear before she doesn’t think less of him because of where he lives. It’s still a lot smaller than Betty’s home, but it’s cleaner than it used to be. Apparently having a sober parent means it gets trashed less and less.

Said sober parent is sitting on the couch, staring off into space. When they come in, he turns to look at them, and fuck, he looks spooked. Like they’re here to indict him. They aren’t, no matter how much it might feel that way.

“Dad?”

“You said Alice had her baby.”

Jughead and Betty share a look. This is already going differently than they had planned for.

“Yeah,” Betty answers, “She did. It was a boy.”

FP hums, looking away again.

“Is -- was it yours?” Jughead asks, trying for neutral but only managing to sound angry.

“Well, she wasn’t exactly with Hal yet, so I guess so, yeah.”

At the last word, Betty drops into the chair. Jughead sits on the arm of it, mind utterly blank.

He knew, okay, he _knew_ the second he saw Charles. Even more than that, he’s known for a long time that he has an older sibling (probably). Yet still, he’s surprised. It’s suddenly real, not quite right in front of him anymore, but it _was_ not even a few hours ago, in the form of a 25-year-old man. A 25-year-old-man with blonde hair and FP’s eyes and a smile that Jughead has seen before, not only in pictures of Forsythe Pendleton Jones the First, but on his dad’s face.

It hits him very belatedly that he and Betty share a half-brother. Jesus, and he thought Polly and Jason were bad.

As if he can tell what Jughead (and probably Betty) is thinking, FP says, “I didn’t know she had him. She told me at the same time she told Hal, and then I didn’t see her around again for a while. Once I finally did, I tried to ask what happened, and she said it didn’t matter anymore. I guess she’s changed her mind.”

Jughead can’t find anything to say, nothing at all. Anger at or for FP doesn’t feel right, and neither does apathy. So he just stays silent, watching his dad sigh and think about something that is clearly painful.

“What’s his name? How is he? Is he safe?” He sounds -- concerned. The petty part of Jughead can’t help but notice that he doesn’t remember the last time his dad sounded concerned about _him_.

“It’s Charles,” Jughead says, “And he’s fine, I guess. He lives in Greendale. Takes adderall. Has two jobs, and a roommate. So yeah, he’s okay.”

Betty adds, “He was really happy to meet my mom.”

FP looks immeasurably relieved by that. “Good. That’s really good to hear.”

“And he asked about -- _you_.” It seems to shock her all over that Charles’ dad is Jughead’s.

Noticing his dad’s face (a mix of emotions that haven’t been there in several years), Jughead says, “Yeah. Um, about Veronica -- “

FP shakes his head, cutting Jughead off. “I wouldn’t worry about that, son. She has all she needs taken care of already.”

“But Dad,” Jughead says, “We can’t just not tell her. She needs to know!”

Betty says, “Yeah! It’s not fair not to tell her!”

His dad stands, looking as world weary as Jughead has ever seen. “No, she doesn’t, and no, it isn’t. Veronica has two parents already, two _rich_ parents, and that’s good enough. Adding me into the mix when we don’t even know if she’s mine? Don’t be stupid, Jug.”

Jughead doesn’t flinch, no matter what anyone might say. Instead, he glares at his dad, and says, “I’m gonna tell her.”

“The hell you are! I said no, and that’s final. And Betty? I know you aren’t my kid so I can’t boss you around, but know this: all of this is _my_ business, not yours or your family’s. It’s not your place to tell her.”

With that, he leaves, the room of his door closing tightly behind him.

“Oh god,” Betty says, and Jughead doesn’t imagine the wet quality to her voice. Her eyes are watering, either because of his dad or because of what they’ve learned, he doesn’t know. It doesn’t really matter either way. He tucks her into his side again, the way they’re sitting leaving her hiding her face against his ribs. “What do we do?” She asks, muffled by his clothes.

Jughead strokes her back, and says, “We tell Veronica.”

**Author's Note:**

> Should I continue? Let me know down in the comments!


End file.
